erful little
"watchdogs" of the sea. The "Mosquito Fleet" had arrived, and was
tearing through the water in all directions. We were thus escorted
through the danger zone, and had little fear of submarines. But we could
now understand why old "Chris Columbus" felt so glad upon seeing land.
As the day grew on we drew into the Irish Sea. The water was as smooth
as glass, with only little ripples disturbing its peacefulness. Jelly
fish of every shape and size could be seen through its clearness. Two
large dirigibles, and several aeroplanes came out to greet our convoy
and protect us in the dangerous waters. At one time we could see both
Bonnie Scotland and Ireland, where the channel was very narrow.
About 10 o'clock that morning five long blasts from one of the ships was
heard--the signal for a submarine. The little sub chasers raced around
to our right and immediately began to fire upon an object. The big
dirigibles also made a nose dive, and turned loose with its machine
guns. Aroused by the shooting, we ran up on deck to see the action, but
were ordered below to await the outcome, and if there was ever a time
when we could have used an "island," it was then. However, nothing
serious developed, and afterwards we were told that it was a broken life
buoy which had been mistaken for a periscope.
We were moving slowly, so very slowly that one could hardly feel the
throbbing of the tired engines that for twelve long days had worked
untiringly. From the officers' deck we could see the green and red guide
lights, welcoming our convoy of fifteen ships into the sheltered harbor
of Liverpool, England.
OUR FLYING TRIP THROUGH ENGLAND
We crawled out of our bunks just as dawn was breaking upon a new world
for us, and went on deck, where we saw, on a cliff, "Spratt's Dog Food"
printed in large white letters on a black background. Unpoetic and
unromantic indeed was this first sight of England.
Here was where the "weary waiting" began, as we waited for the first
transport to unload its human cargo. Old man "bon chance" was with us
for the time being, for we were the second to dock. We stood on the
deck, complying with the English boys request "'ave you any coins" by
tossing them all the pennies we had. The men on the port side were first
ordered to fall in, and then those on the starboard side, for the
purpose of finding out if any of us had fallen overboard during our
journey. Finally, half walking and half sliding, do
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